PM to discuss situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan with Obama: Menon

New Delhi, March 31 (ANI): Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh is likely to discuss current situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan with the United States President Barack Obama during their upcoming meet, said Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon here on Monday.

Dr. Manmohan Singh is expected to meet the U.S President on Thursday (April 2) on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in London.

Menon, while talking to media in the capital, said that the two leaders would discuss ways to take forward the strategic bilateral relations and security situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan would also come up for discussion.

“I think the situation in the region including what happens in Afghanistan and what’s happening in Pakistan will certainly come up during discussions. As far this comprehensive strategic review of US policy, which is in the process of being rolled out and being discussed also at various forums, we welcome the very clear expression of will to carry through the struggle against extremism in Afghanistan and its roots in Pakistan, which is contained in new comprehensive US strategy. India has a direct interest in the success of this international effort and India is ready to play a constructive role as

a responsible power in defeating extremism of all kinds,” said Menon.

Menon also said that the composite dialogue with Pakistan couldn’t resume until the perpetrators of last year Mumbai attack that killed at least 166 people would be brought to justice.

“What we are looking at is bringing the perpetrators of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai to justice and credible action to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism in Pakistan from which Mumbai and various other attacks on India have taken place in the past. We are waiting,” said Menon.

Reacting to the reports of 1300 systems in 104 countries being hacked during a vast spying operation suspected from China, Menon said that all relevant measures would be taken to safeguard Indian systems.

“There were attacks mounted on computers in 103 countries. That… of the four servers from which the attacks were mounted — three were in China and one was in the US. And that there is no proof to link this to governmental activities in China or the US,” said Menon while adding: “We do what we can and what we need to, to prevent it or even if it does happen …to make sure that the consequences are well non-catastrophic and actually the consequences are minimized to the extent we can. So we take both defensive and

other measures to try and deal with it.”

There have been media reports that state Canadian researchers have uncovered an Internet spy network that has allegedly hacked computers owned by governments and private organizations. The reports also state that the Indian Embassy computers in Washington are among the hacked computers.

The Summit, second since the global financial crisis started in the middle of last year, will be attended among others by US President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister Gordan Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese President Hu Jintao. (ANI)